Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Old Du let out a slow breath and his shoulders relaxing marginally now. At least the boy was curious enough to ask instead of rejecting them outright. He traced the rim of his teacup with a weathered finger.

"It is a matter of roots, Li Yu," Old Du explained. His voice carried the weary wisdom of a man who had seen countless epochs turn. "In the vast expanse of the cosmos, cultivation is not merely the accumulation of Qi; it is the accumulation of karmic ties, obligations and loyalties. By the time a cultivator breaches the Paragon realm, they are rarely wandering alone. They are the patriarchs of clans, the grand elders of sects or the commanding generals of imperial armadas. In other words, they are tied to some organization or another."

Khaos scoffed softly at his words but he did not contradict the ferryman.

"To take anyone higher than a Paragon is to invite war with the entrenched factions they represent. It is already quite risky to do so with those above Soul Transformation but it is a risk we need to take." Old Du continued.

"Furthermore, their paths are already set in stone. Their loyalties are forged in blood and centuries of shared history. Even if we could somehow convince a Paragon to come to our broken realm, it would be far too late to endear them to our people. They would view us as a stepping stone. A resource pool to be drained, rather than a home to be rebuilt."

Li Yu nodded slowly. He could understand the political and psychological reality of the cosmos. Those that reached realms like Paragon were generally at least thousands of years old. You could not teach an ancient and reigning tiger to pull a plow.

"The artifact and we understand this," Old Du said while gesturing toward the levitating wooden boat waiting in the mist. "Therefore, it scans the myriad realms for unparalleled potential that has not yet been irrevocably bound to the apex powers. The vast majority of the candidates the guiding compass identifies rest between the Soul Formation and Paragon realms.” Old Du continued to explain and was patient.

“Cultivators between Soul Transformation and where you are are the ideal demographic. You possess enough strength to possibly make it through the grueling trials but you are still young enough in the eyes of the cosmos to forge new bonds. To learn our ethereal arts from the ground up and most importantly to potentially view our people as your own. To help us."

"A calculated investment," Li Yu murmured. It made pragmatic sense. They were taking a massive risk as well. The recruit drained massive amounts of resources and the people taking part could simply refuse to help at the end.

‘Surely a lot of the trails would weed out those with good hearts and had good skills. They would take a risk but would definitely not hand over resources to those that had little to no intentions of helping or staying with them.’ Li Yu thought to himself.

With the mechanics of the trial and the artifact's logic laid bare, a heavy silence returned to the table. But there was one massive and glaring question that had yet to be answered. It was the question that hung like a jagged blade over the entire gathering.

Li Yu turned his head and shifted his gaze from the ferryman to the edge of the lantern’s light.

Grandma Xyphyra sat on the damp grass. Her withered and cursed form trembled slightly. She glared back at Li Yu. Her spectral eyes burning with a spiteful and ancient malice. Through the authority of the soul, Li Yu mentally released the lock on her from talking.

"You heard the history," Li Yu said to her but his voice was devoid of anger. It was entirely calm and probing. "You were the shining genius. The guardian of a sacred treasure. You had the respect of your brother, your elders and your peers. So tell me... why did you betray your people?"

The moment the question was asked, the atmosphere in the courtyard shifted dramatically.

Old Du went completely rigid. His weathered hands gripped the wooden table so tightly the timber groaned. Across from him, Khaos slowly lowered his teacup. The ancient warrior leaned forward and his dark eyes locked onto the crone. The casual indifference he usually projected vanished entirely. It was replaced by a raw and burning intensity. They both had wanted to know the answer to this question.

This was the mystery that had haunted them both. It was the question that had shattered a realm and turned family and friends into bitter, blood soaked enemies.

Xyphyra looked at the three of them. She saw the agonizing desperation in her older brother's eyes. She saw the cold and demanding judgment in Khaos's stare. And she saw the calm of the human boy who held her leash.

Her withered lips curled into a vicious and mocking sneer.

"Why?" Xyphyra rasped. She locked eyes with Li Yu and was completely ignoring Khaos and Old Du. "It is absolutely none of your business, human. I am an entity of an era you cannot even fathom. I am not going to sit in the dirt and be judged by some ignorant toddler who just learned how to walk without tripping over his own feet."

Li Yu’s expression did not change. He simply waited.

"I did what I must," Xyphyra spat at him. Her spectral eyes flashing with a sudden and defensive intensity. "That is all anyone needs to know. I did what I had to do and I would do it again. You all would never understand me."

She clamped her jaw shut and turned her head away. She was now just staring out into the mist-covered river. The finality in her posture made it clear that she would not utter another word on the matter. The secret behind her betrayal was buried deeper than the foundation of her broken realm.

Old Du let out a long and shuddering sigh. The sound was so incredibly frail, so completely broken, that Li Yu actually felt a pang of sympathy for the ferryman.

The old man’s shoulders slumped. The brief and desperate hope that he might finally understand the madness that had consumed his beloved sister evaporated into the fog. It was clear to everyone present that despite the horrific devastation she had caused, despite the blood on her hands and the ruin of their home, Old Du still viewed her as his little sister. He hated her sins but he could not bring himself to hate her. She was family.

Old Du slowly pushed himself up from the wooden chair. He reached down and picked up his iron lantern.

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"I will not bother you anymore, Li Yu," Old Du said quietly. His voice was now devoid of its earlier mystical weight. He looked utterly defeated.

Li Yu raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You are leaving?"

"I have no choice." The ferryman admitted. He had a self-deprecating smile on his face. "I came here intending to enforce the artifact's decree. But with Khaos here to stop me, I cannot take you by force. And now..." Old Du glanced briefly at the crone on the grass.

"...with the public enemy number one of our people trapped within your soul space, bringing you back to our realm against your will would be a catastrophic risk. If our elders discovered her presence inside you, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Li Yu remained seated and was analyzing the ferryman's words. A strange realization settled over him.

'He is lying to himself and me.' Li Yu thought. His mind pierced through the emotional subtext of the conversation.

‘If Xyphyra was truly the ultimate sinner, the most hated entity in their entire race, then discovering her whereabouts should have been the greatest victory Old Du could ever hope for. By all logic, Old Du should be begging Khaos and I to hand her over. He should want to drag her back to their broken realm in chains so the surviving elders could execute her. To extract their vengeance and bring a definitive and bloody closure to the Great Devastation.’ Li Yu began his thought process.

But Old Du hadn't asked for her. He hadn't even suggested it.

'He doesn't want her to truly die,' Li Yu realized as a sense of clarity washed over him. 'He knows that if he brings her back, the elders will execute her. He is walking away to protect her. He would rather she live as a prisoner than see her executed on the chopping block of their home. He can’t bring himself to do it. Such is the power of family and or love.'

It was a staggering display of quiet and tragic familial love. Khaos had clearly reached the same conclusion. He let out a soft but mocking scoff. However, he did not intervene. He simply leaned back in his chair and was watching the human boy.

Old Du turned toward his levitating wooden boat.

"Wait," Li Yu said suddenly.

Old Du paused and was looking back over his shoulder.

"I didn't say I wouldn't go," Li Yu stated calmly and remained seated at the table. Old Du froze. The ferryman turned fully around. His dark eyes were wide with shock. Even Khaos raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise crossing his stoic features.

"You... you would willingly come?" Old Du stammered, his grip tightening on the iron lantern. "After everything you just heard? After I told you of the devastation, the dangers and the true nature of the trial?"

"Because of everything I just heard," Li Yu corrected.

Li Yu stood up from the wooden table. He looked around his peaceful courtyard. At the tilled dirt and the silver trees. It was a beautiful sanctuary but he knew now that staying here indefinitely would only lead to stagnation. He had changed and grown from his experiences, for better or for the worse.

"Not long ago, I was lost," Li Yu explained. His voice carried the firm and undeniable resonance of a person who had found their center.

"I realized that the cosmos is held up by giants and I am not one of them. I want to secure my peace. I want to protect the life I have built. But to do that, I cannot hide in the dirt. I need a crucible. My greatest advantage has always been my soul. If your realm offers one of the greatest soul trials in the cosmos and the resources to push my foundation to its limits, then it is exactly the path I need to walk."

He looked directly at Old Du. "I want to see this new realm. I want to go through the competition."

Old Du stared at the young man with a mixture of relief and deep apprehension warring on his weathered face.

"It is not a competition in the way most understand the word," Old Du clarified quickly. With Li Yu agreeing, he wanted to ensure the boy truly comprehended what he was agreeing to. "You will not be placed in an arena to fight the other candidates directly. It is a series of grueling, artifact-assigned trials designed to test the limits of your soul's endurance, comprehension and purity. It is called a competition only because the candidates are ranked at the end based on their performance and the milestones they achieve."

"And the timeline?" Li Yu asked. "You said I was two years late."

"The trials can take a few years to fully complete. It all depends on the individual's pace and the difficulty of the tasks assigned," Old Du explained. The mystical and guiding tone returned to his raspy voice. "While you are late to begin, there is still ample time for a soul of your caliber to catch up and surpass the others. It isn’t a speed competition. You just need to finish anytime before the artifact closes and needs to recharge."

Li Yu nodded definitively. He turned to look at the towering figure sitting at his table. Khaos met his gaze. The ancient warrior searched Li Yu’s eyes. He was looking for hesitation or fear. He found only the steady and unyielding resolve of a person who had chosen his next battlefield.

Khaos’s lips twitched upward into a faint approving smile.

"You truly are an anomaly, boy," Khaos murmured. His deep voice vibrated in the damp air. "Very well. If this is the path your heart has chosen, walk it until the end. But remember... do not let their desperation change your path. You are you and they are they."

With those final words of parting advice, Khaos stood. The space around him rippled violently and the warrior dissolved into a vortex of deep purple energy, vanishing from the courtyard and returning to the silent depths of the Koi Sanctuary. Before leaving, he mentally sent a message to Old Du.

“Do not share any information involving me from the past with Li Yu. Or I will finish tearing your realm apart myself.” Old Du broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing those words and made a mental note.

Li Yu turned his attention back to the crone sitting on the grass. He willed it and she went back inside and reappeared back on the island with the Fisherman, Muddy and now his Human Soul.

As the crone vanished, Old Du winced. A flash of genuine and empathetic pain crossed the ferryman's face. Seeing his once-glorious sister treated like a summoned beast being stuffed back into a cage.

Old Du stepped forward. He closed the distance between himself and Li Yu. He lowered his lantern and his dark eyes locked onto the young man with a deadly and desperate seriousness.

"Listen to me very carefully, Li Yu," Old Du whispered. His voice trembled with urgency. "When we cross the boundary into my realm, you must swear to me that you will never let anyone know she is trapped within you. You must never bring her out, no matter what danger you face, no matter what trial you endure."

Li Yu looked at the ferryman and recognized the plea for what it truly was. It wasn't a warning for Li Yu’s safety. It was a brother begging a jailer to keep his sister hidden from the executioner's block.

"I understand, Old Du," Li Yu said softly. "Her presence within me is an absolute secret I would never reveal anyways.. She will not see the light of your realm."

Old Du let out a shuddering breath of relief. He stepped back and gestured toward the levitating wooden boat waiting in the unnatural fog.

"Then come, Li Yu," Old Du spoke while tapping the edge of the hull with his wooden paddle. "The mists of the cosmos await and the broken realm calls for its missing pillars."

Li Yu did not look back at his log tower or his freshly tilled fields. He knew they would be waiting for him. As Xerxis had said before, they would be perfectly maintained for him at all times. He vaulted effortlessly over the low side of the skiff, his boots landing silently.

Old Du took his place at the stern. He raised his iron lantern and the pale yellow flame flared brightly against the encroaching dark. With a smooth and silent sweep of his wooden paddle, the ferryman struck the air.

The unnatural mist surged forward and entirely swallowed the small wooden boat.

When the fog finally rolled back and dispersed over the dark waters of the river, the bank of Silkwood was completely empty. Li Yu and the ferryman had vanished into the cracks of the cosmos. The two of them were now embarking on a journey to a devastated world to test the limits of the soul.